Author's Note: It makes me SO happy that you guys are liking this story! Some of the reviews are really shocking me at how much you like it! To answer a few questions... the story is done. It's 21 chapters. I just don't want to push it all out at once in case I get a bad review and want to change something. I'm very critical of my own work. I've read and re-read this story a million times. I re-read each chapter before I upload it to make sure everything sounds perfect. With that said, thank you so much for reading! This one is a bit short, but that just means the next will come faster! Enjoy!

Chapter 6

September 1999

A few weeks later, Hermione was forced to take the morning off of work to have her fireplace worked into the floo network. The entire process was much more complicated than even the brightest witch or wizard would think. The setup involved three wizard technicians, two aurors, several test dummies, and a giant bucket of floo powder.

The aurors arrived first, Harry, of course, volunteering for the task. He apparated right into her living room alongside a tall redhead. After greeting her best friend, she looked at his colleague. His face seemed familiar to her and as her eyes traveled over him, they landed on a shiny badge on the chest of his robes.

"Ron. The bloke you can't remember," she read and it clicked. "You took Ginny's advice."

The grin on his face could have lit the entire Ministry of Magic headquarters. "Yeah. Yeah, I did," he said. "You remember?"

"I remember joking about it at her party, yeah. Though without seeing it, I don't think I would have."

"Doesn't matter," Ron kept grinning. "What if's don't matter."

Hermione just smiled back at him before Harry interrupted. "Did you know that if not set up properly, a fireplace can open a portal anywhere? I heard once a hippogriff came charging through one. Now they make sure aurors are on hand in case anything pops out of there."

"Why not just put a bubble shield charm around it? That way if anything came in, there's enough room for it to fit but it's blocked from… causing damage."

"A bubble shield charm," Rom murmured. "How many wizards and witches work in the floo network department and never thought of that?"

The trio laughed as there was a knock on the door. Hermione let in the team of technicians who arrived partially via muggle transportation. They must have looked very out of place in their mismatched clothes. One short wizard was even carrying an oversized floral woman's purse.

"Honor to be helping you today, Miss Granger," the wizard with the purse spoke. "Should only take an hour or two. We trust that the aurors assigned to this task today are already here?"

"Right here," Harry answered as he and Ron emerged from the kitchen.

The wizard's eyes widened at the sight of the famous Harry Potter and he dropped his bag by accident, causing a very loud thud as it hit the floor. "Harry Potter," he murmured slowly. "Never thought I'd get the greatest pleasure to meet you, sir. It's an honor, a true honor. And Mr. Weasley, too!" he exclaimed when he noticed Ron. His coworkers murmured to each other in excitement. "Three of the greatest most brave wizards of our time all in the same little flat with us today. An honor," he repeated.

"Pleasure to meet you," Harry nodded, extending his hand which the smaller wizard took too eagerly.

Trying to bring the focus back to getting her fireplace in order, Hermione motioned to the bag. "Undetectable extension spell?" she laughed.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," the wizard spoke, finally letting go of Harry's hand and picking the bag back up.

"I'm familiar with it," she said with a smirk. "Let me show you to the fireplace."

Two hours later, Hermione's living room was filled with multicolored leaves from a portal in a windy forest being opened during the process. With a wave of his wand, the lead wizard in charge of setting up the floo made them all disappear. "All set Miss Granger. Last five test dummies were sent successfully back to the Ministry. If you don't mind, we'll be taking it back ourselves."

"Don't mind at all," she smiled gratefully. "Thank you for your help." They all said goodbye to the crew before they were engulfed by the bright green flames that filled the fireplace. Hermione let out a deep sigh once the last was gone. "That took forever!" she said, exasperated. She turned back to her friends, a look of confusion briefly passing over her face. She saw the name tag again on Ron's chest and the confusion left, a smile filling her features. He smiled back. "So it's just about lunch time. Do you need to go back to work or can you stay to eat?"

"We can stay!" Ron answered before Hermione could finish her sentence. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ron can stay. I have another meeting. Besides, Hermione, you're not that great a cook."

Hermione's mouth fell open. "I've gotten better!" she interjected.

"Sure you have," Harry said with a knowing wink. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her in a hug, whispering in her ear. "He asked me that if you remembered if he could have some time with you. Tell him to leave if anything goes wrong, he'll understand." Hermione nodded as Harry pulled back from their embrace. "Think I'll take the floo, really test it out," he said, clapping Ron on the shoulder. "See you later, mate."

"Yeah," Ron answered, his hands finding his pockets, his eyes on Harry until he disappeared in the green flames of the fireplace.

Hermione wordlessly went back to the kitchen, starting to pull a few things out to fix lunch for the two of them. She could sense that he followed her there and that he was standing in the doorway. She couldn't really explain it, but it was like she could feel his presence nearby, smell him in the air. Her mind was racing, this was the first time that she could recall that they were alone together. But was it really the first time? Similar thoughts passed through her mind as she made them lunch, bringing their plates to the table when it was done. She sat across from him, picking at her food as he dove right in. She wondered if he always dove right in. It was sweet of him to respect the easy silence that fell over them but she had enough time to think, she wanted to talk now. "You remember that day?" she asked. "That day with Draco? Do you remember what happened?"

Ron looked up, his mouth full of food. He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, I do." He watched her for a moment. "Do you?"

Hermione shook her head slowly, her eyes lowered. "No. I don't. Not really. I have these nightmares sometimes. I suspect they're of that day but I'm not sure, it's unclear."

"Do you want me to tell you? Everyone said I shouldn't but… if you want, we can talk about it."

Hermione bit her lip. She was worried of the effect this conversation might have on her but she wanted, needed to know what happened. "Please tell me."

Ron looked at her, taking a deep breath. "Ok…"